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Growth at What Cost?

Written by: Debbie Lessin

Article Overview: On the occasion of her 10 year business anniversary, Debbie Lessin began to question where her entreprenurial path was taking her. She was pretty sure that she was done growing her business, opting instead to have a life! This was the true beginning of her quest for balance. Debbie shares an article she wrote in May 1994 where she questioned her business growth and asked out loud some of the questions she continues to ask to this day. As Debbie approachs her 25th business anniversary so many of the things Debbie knew then still hold true today. Whether you are celebrating a business milestone or simply questioning your own growth path, see if you Debbie's story rings true for you in any way.

Growth at What Cost?

In the early 1990’s I wrote a monthly column on tax and financial issues for a local woman’s magazine - Today’s Chicago Woman. For four years, my column addressed timely topics of interest to women business owners who like me were starting and/or growing their businesses.

One column published in May 1994 - Growth at What Cost? - has always without question stood out as my favorite. In fact, in rediscovering it several years later, reading it anew literally made me cry. What’s more interesting is that 14 years later it still rings true. Time flies when you are growing a business. It may not feel that way as you are living it. I really do not know where the 14 years have gone. And yet, I realize that next year I will celebrate 25 years of being a full-time entrepreneur. 25 years of providing for myself. 25 years of serving my clients, many of whom have been with me for over 20 years, 25 years of saving for retirement and providing my own health care/insurance. 25 years of living my life, Cleary, the nostalgic aura surrounding this milestone has already begun. Not ready to quite yet plan a big party, I know that something significant will be in order, if only a quiet dinner with the key people in my life to celebrate. There’s still plenty of time to figure that out, months of living yet to occur.

It is this column that marks when my quest for balance truly began – as I celebrated my 10 year business anniversary in anticipation of my 40th birthday. And so I wish to share with you that column. Reading it again now, it was clear that there were rough economic times, corporations downsizing their work force. The boom time that was the 90s during the Clinton era were yet to come. Now at the end of the much maligned (and rightly so) Bush era it seems that the same economic times prevail. What goes around really does come around, in a never ending cycle of change. I guess it is true that some things never change. To be honest with you in the 14 years since I first wrote this article neither did my thoughts on growing my business and my quest for life balance. I hope you enjoy my sharing these long ago thoughts with you today.

Tax Season is over, so it’s time to shift gears! With no major compliance deadlines to discuss or any pending or just passed bills in Congress to delineate, this month Uncle Sam will just be forgotten and ignored, as many would prefer to do anyway!

In the height of this year’s tax season, I celebrated my 10 year business anniversary. When I reached the five year peak, I was thrilled to have beaten the odds of surviving business failure. But 10 years just blows my mind! So much has happened….so many peaks, so many valleys. I call it the roller coaster ride of my life. While business stories are always abundant, no one ever really focuses on the small entrepreneur’s struggle to survive and prosper. The tough luck story probably doesn’t make great copy…but it exits, and it is real life.

It is my belief that the reshaping of corporate America will have not only a profound effect on all workers but on the entrepreneurial world as it exists. Everyone talks about economic development, but what does that really mean? As corporate America downsizes its workforce, sometimes choosing to instead offer part-time employment without fringe benefits, does that put us entrepreneurs in a more competitive position to grow our businesses in the same way? Possibly…but the problem remains that this reshaping process has not yet sunk into the mind of the workers. Many entrepreneurs today are forced to be, not “wanna-be.” And then there are those who profess to be “just freelancing” but not being in business! Just what does being in business mean?

Growing a business will never mean the same thing to the same person. And that’s not only OK, it’s what makes the entrepreneurial dream so unique. There are no benchmarks or standards or set expectations except your own. Our expectations do and should change over time.

It has taken me 10 years to realize exactly what I want out of my business and what I don’t want. I started my business at home and could never envision any other way of doing it. After two years of 100 percent growth in revenues each succeeding year, I took the leap from the house to an office…from several part-time employees to two-full time employees. Luckily family and friends loaned me money to help finance the growth. I lived on the edge financially and watched my employees take home more money than I did for several years. As I look back I this was a great move business wise. I looked successful…I became successful. But, I can honestly call it my $100,000 mistake. Too big of an office I never grew into…credit card debt that would make most people wince. At the end of the five year lease, I moved into a smaller office, restructured the experience level of the staff I would opt to employ to save dollars and kept reexamining the moves I could make to cut costs without sacrificing quality. It wasn’t easy. I’m still examining ways to cut costs and will make this a way of life. I’ve even entertained thoughts of becoming a home-based business again.

On the occasion of my tenth anniversary in business, I can honestly say that I am happy with where I’m at. The debt is gone…two years sooner than I expected. I did not hire a full-time CPA for the first time in eight years, and I’m as happy as a clam. I’m working hard but I feel like I’m doing it for myself. A little selfish, yes, but I think I’ve earned it! This year I feel like it all came together. Of course, no one knows what tomorrow brings. Every time I think to say “I’m happy” out loud, something happens! An employee quits…the computer drive blows…it’s always something! And, it always costs me money! But you know what? It’s just another day…another dollar.

I think I’m done “growing” my business. That doesn’t mean that I won’t accept new clients because the client mix in a service business always changes. What it means is that I’m not looking to reach the next plateau where I have to hire more full-time employees. After 10 years, I’m an entrepreneur for the freedom to control my own life, have the time to work on other issues and projects that are important to me and yes, for the money – my personal economic development. Growing a business takes lots of money and as the owner, you usually take the risk. Growth capital isn’t easy to come by. It took seven years of struggling for me to realize that my business growth meant downsizing the business. Gee, sounds a lot like corporate America, doesn’t it? I’m proud to be an entrepreneur. I can’t for the life of me imagine doing anything else. But, I’m equally proud to say that I don’t want to be a big business. I want to have a life that includes a business but not to the exclusion of everything else. And I know that there are a lot of entrepreneurs who would proudly join me in making that statement with heart and soul.

No tears in reading/writing the article this time. Just pure pride and joy in acknowledging the path that I have traveled. In the 14 years since this article was first penned, I downsized the business one, if not two more times. The last time was in 2000 when I spun off the bookkeeping aspects of business to my long-time employee and went back to being just me – no other employees, a few freelance contractors at busy times when needed. I fired clients I no longer wanted to work with and committed myself to shorter work week from April 15th – December 15th. I freed myself up to work on my passion – Balancing Act Productions, writing my book, Life is a Balancing Act…a fun book soon after.

There are no thoughts to going back to a home-based business. I don’t know where I’d put all the accumulated files. Mine is not a paperless life! But I am ready to leave the office building where I’ve been for over 22 years (in three different spaces, each smaller than the next). The office is too big for just me. And I want to walk to work. This move will probably be the last before I contemplate my succession options. And it will be to the right space for the right reasons, one being to save more money – again! My quest is hard in my neighborhood as it caters to retail space in a continuing budding overabundance but not office space. I’ve targeted the one viable building that I want to be in. I saw a too big space that I’m hoping won’t be rented but open to dividing. It was my current office in a new location just much closer to my house. I know it is simply a matter of time before it happens. I’m visualizing it already!

Like anything else, it is easy to get into an entrepreneurial rut. Being an entrepreneur means constantly reviewing what you do, how you do it and how much it costs. It also means integrating your business into your day to day life…not integrating your life into your business. I still want to have a life that includes a business but not to the exclusion of everything else. And my pride in saying that has not changed for one second over the last 14 years!

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Article Tags: business anniversary, business growth, entrepreneur choices, life balance, milestone



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